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2011 Tokyo World Championships
The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the International Federation of Gymnastics revealed it was considering moving the event, but on May 22 FIG president Bruno Grandi announced that the World Championships would take place in Tokyo as planned. These World Championships also served as the qualifications into the 2012 London Olympics. Tokyo had also hosted the 1964 Olympic Games. Format of Competition All participating gymnasts, including those who were not part of a team, participated in a qualification round. The results of this competition determined which teams and individuals participated in the remaining competitions, which included: *The team competition, in which the eight highest scoring teams from qualifications competed. Each team of six gymnasts could only have three gymnasts perform on each apparatus, and all three scores counted toward the team total. *The all-around competition, in which only the twenty-four highest scoring individuals in the all-around competed. Each country was limited to only two gymnasts in the all-around final. *The event finals, in which the eight highest scoring individuals on each apparatus competed. Each country was limited to two gymnasts in each apparatus final. Competition Schedule Qualifications In the qualification round, the top 8 teams automatically qualified to the 2012 Olympics: USA, Russia, China, Romania, Japan, Australia, Germany, and Great Britain. The following teams did not qualify to the top 8 and had to qualify to the Olympics at the London Test Event the following January: Italy, Canada, France, Brazil, Belgium, South Korea, Spain, and the Netherlands. Certain individual gymnasts qualified on individual events. For example, Phan Thị Hà Thanh of Vietnam qualified to the Olympics by participating in the vault event final. Results Notable Moments *The US women won their third team title. Incidentally, the Americans have won all their World titles the year before the Olympics. *USA's Alicia Sacramone was named to the team then tore her Achilles tendon in a closed practice. This left the Americans competing with only five gymnasts, while every other team had six (similar to the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim). Her name was still on the roster in the team final, so she received a medal when the United States won. Alternate Anna Li dressed, supported the team on the floor, and accepted the medal for Sacramone. This medal made Sacramone the most decorated American gymnast in World Championship history (10 medals). *USA's Jordyn Wieber became the sixth American to win the World All-Around title, following Kim Zmeskal, Shannon Miller, Chellsie Memmel, Shawn Johnson, and Bridget Sloan. *USA's McKayla Maroney became the third straight American to win the World title on vault, following Kayla Williams and Alicia Sacramone. *Vietnam's Phan Thị Hà Thanh became the first Vietnamese gymnast to win a World medal. *Russia's Viktoria Komova became the third Russian gymnast to win the World title on uneven bars, following Svetlana Khorkina and Ksenia Semenova. *China's Sui Lu became the fifth Chinese gymnast to win the World title on balance beam, following Mo Huilan, Ling Jie, Fan Ye, and Deng Linlin. *The original floor lineup included Romania's Diana Bulimar, Italy's Vanessa Ferrari, and Russia's Viktoria Komova. Bulimar pulled out with an injury and was replaced by Australia's Lauren Mitchell. Komova pulled out of the final to give her compatriot Ksenia Afanasyeva a chance to medal. During the warm-up for the final, Ferrari became injured and was replaced at the last minute by Romania's Diana Chelaru. *Afanasyeva became the second Russian gymnast to win the World title on floor exercise, following Dina Kochetkova. *Romania failed to medal at all for the first time since 1981. *The Longines Prize for Elegance was awarded to Romania's Ana Porgras. Controversy *During the medal ceremony for the team final, the national anthem of the USA was abruptly cut short, causing some frustration from the coaches and athletes alike. This also happened at the 2007 World Championships. Medal Count Gallery Screen_Shot_2012-08-16_at_7.57.21_PM.png|The Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium during the competition tokyotf.jpg|'Team Medalists:' China (front), USA (center), Russia (back) tokyoaa.jpg|'All-Around Medalists (from left):' Viktoria Komova (RUS), Jordyn Wieber (USA), Yao Jinnan (CHN) Tokyovt.jpg|'Vault Medalists (from left):' Oksana Chusovitina (GER), McKayla Maroney (USA), Phan Thị Hà Thanh (VIE) tokyoub.jpg|'Uneven Bars Medalists (from left):' Tatiana Nabieva (RUS), Viktoria Komova (RUS), Huang Qiushuang (CHN) tokyobb.jpg|'Balance Beam Medalists (from left):' Yao Jinnan (CHN), Sui Lu (CHN), Jordyn Wieber (USA) tokyofx.jpg|'Floor Exercise Medalists (from left):' Sui Lu (CHN), Ksenia Afanasyeva (RUS), Aly Raisman (USA) Category:World Championships Category:2011 Competitions